This weekend A Cycling are hosting the British Cycling MTB Marathon Championships at Llandovery in Wales, the course is 80km long consisting of 3000m of climbing (Nearly 10,000ft!).

The course is set in the Crychan Forest with 2 laps of 40km course, A Cycling quote the course as
Held within Crychan Forest, the Wild Welsh is unique among similar long distance MTB events in the UK with permission to race and time all competitors.

The course will be based on a large loop, approximately 40km in distance, with additional 7km neutral, escorted start and 7km neutral ride back. Total distance ridden will therefore be approximately 94km.

The route will offer a challenge to all riders, with a total of 3000 metres of climbing and lots of fun descents. It will offer variety with incredible views all around.

We will not be releasing a GPX file prior to the event. It will be fully marked and clear to follow.

For the Championship event a technical support zone will be available at 33km and 73km (from race start).
For both events feed stations will be at 33km, 40km and 73km.

 

Matt at ACycling recently wrote on their Facebook page an insight into what to expect on the day
"Crychan won't be well known to many people as a cycling venue but very common for international car rallies and motorbike enduros. The forest hides a huge variety of tracks and trails and somewhere I have trained and ridden for 20 years.

Riders really need to be prepared for the variety with lots of different singletrack and doubletrack trails to keep riders on their toes. The vast majority of the trails are rock based, so it copes well regardless of the weather, although riders might not believe me after the first few KM off-road, which is the wettest of the route.

The biggest challenge in Crychan is the amount of climbing as descents are almost all fast. Although nothing is super technical there are several sections that riders will have to take some time to get down. There are no really easy KMs due to the lack of tarmac, but the forest roads will be a chance to relax a little at least.

I'd strongly suggest riders firstly take plenty of fluid & food with them and then my biggest recommendation is good tyres. Schwalbe Racing Ralph Snakeskin are my tyres of choice and I would strongly recommend not using anything with a thin sidewall."

Female Start List



























































































Name Club name
Melanie Alexander Cardiff JIF
Verity Appleyard Brotherton Cycles
Jane Barr Velocity 44 Stirling
Sally Bigham Topeak Ergon Racing Team
Julie Bratton Velo Club Flintham
Rosie Brown Westbury Wheelers
Charlotte Davies ---
Naomi Freireich ---
Carla Haines TORQ Performance
Sophie Hemming A Cycling / Pivot
Nicky Hughes Specialized Racing
Theresa Jackson CC Luton
Sharon Laws Podium Ambition p/b Club La Santa
Angela Laycock Army Cycling Race Team (ACRT)
Janet Marsden Warwickshire Police Cycling Club
Cheri Mills Oneplanet Adventure
Rebecca Preece Leisure Lakes Bikes.com
Heather Shanks Concept Group
Amy Souter Albarosa Cycling Club
Carole Welch ---

 

 

Male Start List



















































































































































































































































































































































































Name Club name
Rob Adair ---
Daniel Alexander www.Zepnat.com RT - Lazer helmets
Jesse Baines ---
Tom Bell Delv
Ian Bendall Forza Cycles Racing Team
Mike Brain Matlock CC
Matthew Bridge ---
Nigel Brown Westbury Wheelers
George Budd A Cycling / Pivot UK
Marc Chamberlain Cotswold Cycles RT
Steven Chapman Islabikes
Christopher Clark VC York
Ben Connor ---
Stephen Corbyn KTM Impsport RT
Nicholas Corlett Manx Mountain Bike Club
Carwyn Davies Cycle-Tec
Roy Davies Port Sunlight Whls CC
Bruce Diesel Cheltenham & County CC
Giles Drake Leisure Lakes Bikes.com
Timothy Dunford Renvale RT
Ben Eardley ---
Neil Evans Manchester Wheelers Club
Charlie Evans Congleton CC
Rick Fetherston WDMBC/Specialized Ruislip
Dan Fleeman Metaltek Kuota Racing Team
Gary Foord Mammoth Lifestyle Racing Team
Thomas Halhead ---
Mark Hardwicke Bournemouth Arrow/Hotel Collingwood
David Hayward Bigfoot MBC
Jon Heasman ---
Sam Hemmant Bicester Millennium CC
Kieran Hinds ---
Dean Hitchings Cotswold Cycles RT
Mark Hopkinson ---
Bevan Humphreys Urban Cyclery
James Hyde Renvale RT
Mike Jackson CC Luton
Lee Johnson Salisbury Road and Mountain CC
Richard Jones Renvale RT
Andy Jones Clee Cycles
Gareth Jones Ystwyth Cycling Club
Luke Kendall Complete Cycle Works
Dylan Kerfoot-Robson Team USN
Liam Killeen Malvern Cycle Sport
David King-Smith ---
Gary Kirby ---
Richard Lilly Team JMC
Jared Linden Royal Dean Forest CC
Mathew Livesey ---
Matthew Marriott Army Cycling Race Team (ACRT)
Jason Marriott Army Cycling Race Team (ACRT)
Scott McCarron Mountain Trax RT
Paul Miller WDMBC/Specialized Ruislip
George Mills Dulwich Paragon CC
Ryan Nash Army Cycling Race Team (ACRT)
Paul Oldham Hope Factory Racing
Julian Paphitis Cranleigh Cycling Club
Phillip Pearce Specialized Racing
David Pearson Army Cycling Race Team (ACRT)
Ian Petherbridge Southdowns Bikes – Casco
Bryan Preece Welsh coast cycles
Kevin Purcell Nationwide Cycling Club
George Richardson NFTO Race Club
Steven Roach Raleigh GAC
Jon Roberts ---
Rashad Sadat ---
Richard Samuel Clee Cycles
Mike Saunders ---
Thomas Scott-Collins Wellingborough Cycles Race Team
Andrew Searcy ---
Derek Shanks Origins Fitness
Nic Smith Moonglu CC
Matt J Smith ---
Denis Smith Windmill Wheels Cycling Club
Harry Snow Southfork Racing.co.uk
John Speed MB Swindon
Mark Spratt Team Bikesoup-Bianchi
Peter Sutton Army Cycling Race Team (ACRT)
Ben Thomas Mountain Trax RT
Ben Trotter Macclesfield Wheelers
Ben Wadey Clee Cycles
Andy Weaving Cotswold Cycles RT
Mark Wellsted Amisvelo Racing Team
Anthony White Royal Dean Forest CC
Don White Cotswold Cycles RT
Steve Whitehouse Kernow Riders
Mark Whittaker Army Cycling Race Team (ACRT)
Iain Wight Cotswold Cycles RT
Simon Willats Ridebike.co.uk
Carwyn Williams Cardiff JIF

More info can be found at https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/148124/The-Wild-Welsh-(incorporating-the-British-Marathon-Championships) 

Photo credit to www.anthonypeasephotography.co.uk www.anthonypease.com